Why can I still see Conditionalized Content that Should be Hidden?

SmartDocs uses the Microsoft® Word hidden text feature to show and hide conditional content. When you conditionalize content using SmartDocs and then hide the conditional tags that are applied to that content, SmartDocs formats that content as hidden text, so it is no longer visible on your screen.

If you are hiding conditional content but you can still see that content on your screen, then your Microsoft Word options are configured to display hidden text on your screen. Hidden text will be displayed on your screen if:

You have turned on the display of all formatting symbols and marks.

You have explicitly turned on the display of hidden text.

If your Microsoft Word options are configured to display hidden text then you will see a dotted underline under content that has been formatted as hidden:

You can turn off the display of hidden text by toggling the display of formatting marks in your Microsoft Word options. You can also toggle the display of these formatting marks in your SmartDocs Preferences dialog box.

To Turn Off the Display of Hidden Text

Got to the SmartDocs tab.

Select Preferences.

Select the General tab.

Uncheck the Show all formatting and Show hidden text boxes.

Click Save.

Once you have turned off the display of hidden text, you will no longer be able to see conditional content on your screen that you have selected to be hidden.

Additional Resources

If you want to learn more about hidden text and the various options that Microsoft Word provides around this capability Rhonda Bracey of Cybertext Consulting has written a blog entry titled Word: About hidden text that describes the hidden text feature in more detail.